Cover from Belarus

Received this cover from Nargiza,Belarus. One stamp of Bejing Olympics features the sport of rowing and the two to the right are on garden flowers (definitive issue). Thank you for the cover.

Postcrossing Card.

Though I have received a few cards through Post Crossing I have not published the same here, but I was thrilled to receive this card and hence decided to show the same here. In my Post crossing profile I had asked for cards on Ships and this was the first card which I received with a picture of a Ship and more interesting was the stamp used which were also on Ships.

The Picture of the Ship is of P.S."SKIBLADNER" (pron. shee-blah-d-ner), this preserved and restored paddle steamer is over 150 years old but continues to run a timetabled service in the summer months. It is the pride of Norway's inland, and one of Norway's best-loved tourist attractions. The stamp of the same ship can be seen at the top left among the four stamps.

Thank you Joel, for this lovely card and the stamps

If you are interested in knowing more about Post Crossing visit their website at www.postcrossing.com.

Cover from Mauritius

I received this beautiful cover on my collecting subject "Ships and boats from Mauritius. Thanks, Tasneem for the cover. Unfortunately the Mauritius Post has stuck a label on the part of the picture to the left side of the cover.

These 4 stamps of 2005 depicts Ship models.The Ship models of Mauritius are known for thier beauty and high quality workmanship.The first stamp is of the "100 GUN SHIP" built at the end of the 17th century.The "SAMPAN" is a chinese model, the "ROMAN GALLEY" was a Roman warship and the last one is of "DRAKKAR", the clinker hull Viking long ship.

List of Stamps

The Karnataka Circle of India Post has released a book 'List of Stamps' in which stamp release starting from Scinde Dawk is listed. It is different from a catalogue as it contains no illustration or the present value of a stamp, but the list contains the year, date of issue, denomination and the subject of the stamp. I think it will be a very useful guide for beginners and students who are collecting Indian stamps. Price of the same is Rs.25/- which is affordable by the students, who are not able to buy the costly catalogues.

It is published by Shri.M.P.Rajan, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle, with a short Foreword by himself. The same is available at all Philatelic Bureau's of Karnataka and other Main Post Offices.

Release of Stamps on Dr.Rajkumar.

The Department of Posts will be releasing a commemmorative Postage stamp on Dr.Rajkumar, tentatively scheduled for the last week of November 2008.

For more details visit the blog of D.K.Philatelic and Numismatic Association.

Cover from Belgium

I just received this cover from Belgium, with two stamps and a cancellation picture of shoe, which I think is of the National Shoe Museum in Izegem. Thanks Thomas for this nice cover.

Erratic Release of Stamps

Few of recent release of Stamps and Miniature Sheet are irregular at the Philatelic Bureaus. Stamps and MS are not made available at the Philatelic bureaus on the day of release, and the Philatelists find it impossible to post a FDC on the same day, even if it arrives at a particular Bureau it is not complete, either the MS or the stamp is missing and if both are available the cancellation would be missing.

Now there is another confusion regarding the price of some of the Miniature sheets, which started from Post Office, in the MS of XIX Commonwealth games the stamp is priced at Rs.5/- and in one corner of the MS price is quoted at Rs.15/- and the Post Office is Charging Rs.15 + 5 = Rs.20/- , hence the confusion.

Hope India Post will soon solve all the problems and confusion.

Below is the MS of XIX Commonwealth games, in which “Shera” welcomes you to Delhi.

Singapore Philatelic Museum

I received this beautiful card of Singapore Philatelic Museum from my friend Nagendra Nayak, who had visited the Museum. I have also scanned the cancellation which depicts the Museum.

PHILATELY DAY

A Philatelic Exhibition was organised by the Philately Bureau, Mangalore in association with D.K.Philatelic and Numismatic Association at Head Post office, Mangalore on 13 Oct 2008 to celebrate PHILATELY DAY. The exhibition was inaugurated by Mr. T.Govind Naik, Senior Superintendent of Posts, Mangalore. Mr.P.V.Kurlekar, Senior Postmaster, Mangalore, Mr. S.Gopal, Rtd. SSP, Mangalore, Mr.Mansoor Bolar, Jt. Secretary of D.K.Philatelic and Numismatic Association, Mr.Deepak Alvares, In-charge of Philatelic Bureau, Mangalore, Mrs.Severine D'souza, and the employee's of the Mangalore Head Post Office were also present at the venue.

About 18 frames of Exhibits were exhibited at the venue. The collection of The D.K.Philatelic and Numismatic Association (special covers of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts) Mr.M.Prabhakar Kamath, Mr.Baikady Srinivas Rao, Mrs. Jane D'souza, Ms.Tapasya Bhandary and Mansoor Bolar were exhibited.

The exhibits were then open to the public from 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM on 13th and 14th October at the Head Post Office.

PHILATELY News Letter

The Karnataka Postal Circle has recently brought out a PHILATELY News letter. The Ist issue of the 4 page quarterly News letter carries an addressing message from Shri. M.P.Rajan, CPMG, Karnataka, and an article on Mysore Anche in the front page and other news on Philately in the 2nd and 3rd pages. We, Philatelist, would like and hope that it is published regularly with more interesting news on Philately and additional pages. I wish the news letter all success and long life.

Ancient Ships - France

I am delighted to receive this cover from France on Ancient and famous ships,
which is my collecting subject. Thank you Mr.Eric.

When we note the stamps affixed on the cover, we can see a light brownish
colour mark or line which looks like it has been cancelled using a pen. The
below SS gives us the real picture of the same.To know more you can visit the
blog of Eric.

Stamps on Handover ceremony of Olympics.

The Olympic Games concludes on 24 August. For this occasion a joint stamp will be issued by UK & China to commemorate the handover ceremony of the Olympic flag to London on 22 August.

The stamp features the historical and modern architecture of Beijing and london.

Happy Independence Day!

Wish you all a very HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY !

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again."
- Jawaharlal Nehru (Speech on Indian Independence Day, 1947)

On 15 August 1947, India attained freedom from the British rule. Every year, August 15 is celebrated as the Independence Day in India. This national festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over the country. Independence Day is celebrated with flag hoisting ceremonies and cultural programmes in the state capitals. The Prime Minister's speech at the Red Fort in Delhi is the major highlight.

Postal Museum of Mauritius

A new Postal Museum was inaugurated by Dr.Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius on 23rd July 2008.A special commemorative cover was released to mark the event, also celebrating the 140 years of existence of the Post Office building where it will be relocated.

The Postal Museum was formerly housed in the post Office Headquarters building, Port Louis and was inaugurated on the 10th March 1995. It is being relocated in the prominent Post Office Building, Waterfront, Port Louis, in a newly designed set up.

The Postal Museum traces the evolution of the Postal History of Mauritius from Colonial times to the present. Apart from stamps and other exhibits, visitors will see postal equipment and tools which were formerly used. It also hosts a temporary exhibition hall and a stamp gallery which will display along with stamps from Mauritius, those issued by the member countries of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

Visual exhibits depict chronologically the evolution of the Postal service in Mauritius from the Dutch occupant to the English period together with the Post-independence era.

The two stamps on the special commemorative cover are the Rs.25.00 and the 60 cents stamps respectively of the Dodo and the 150th Anniversary of the “Post Office” stamps issues. (Third stamp used on the above cover is to balance the postage for overseas mail)

The illustration on the cover shows the historical Post Office building and the logo of the Mauritius Postal Museum.

The Tortoise has finally arrived!

This tortoise is a native of The Aldabra atoll, part of the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean.The size of an Aldabra Giant Tortoise can be upto 4ft. and weigh around 550lbs. They are normally dark grey to black in colour, have small pointed head covered with scales on forelegs.

A set of 2 stamp and a miniature sheet on Aldabra giant Tortoise is released today.The stamps are hexagonal (six sides) I have presented the two stamps in star shape.

Hey! DODO.

This is a way you address a fool or a dumb person. Do you known that DODO was a bird that actually existed in the past?!!!

Dodo was a flightless bird native to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It was a flightless member of the pigeon family, which weighed up to 23 kg. Portuguese became the first Europeans to discover the dodo in the year 1500. By 1680 it had been driven to extinction by humans who hunted it for flesh and later the dogs, pigs, rats, and monkeys introduced by Europeans to Mauritius.
Our present day knowledge of what the dodo looked like is based on several sources like the diaries and writings of the sailors and captains who landed on Mauritius in the 16th and17th century, drawings from the few humans who were able to witness them alive and the few fossils excavated from the island, which are kept at the British Museum, and a foot and a beak which are preserved at Oxford. The dodo was a large, plump bird covered in soft, grey feathers, with a plume of white at its tail. It had small wings that were far too weak to ever lift the dodo off the ground, dubbed the bird "dodo" which meant simpleton in Portuguese tongue (“doudo”).

Today the idiom "as dead as a dodo" means undoubtedly dead and "to go the way of the dodo" means to become extinct or obsolete, or to become a thing of the past.

The Dodo is a lesson in extinction. It is hoped that the lesson of the Dodo can help prevent similar extinctions, and aid us in preserving the diversity of life on earth.

The SS above was released along with 4 stamps set on 22 June 2007 by Mauritius. The above SS is painted by Julian Pender Hume, a Paleontologist by profession. The 4 stamps are also art work of different artist's view of the dodo.